Images: 88th Annual Oscars

Oscar night belonged to host Chris Rock, who launched immediately into the uproar over the lack of diversity in this year's nominees, and didn't let up. "The White People's Choice Awards," he called the Oscars, which were protested beforehand outside the Dolby Theatre by the Rev. Al Sharpton, and saw some viewers boycotting the broadcast.

Rock insured that the topic remained at the forefront throughout the evening, usually finding hearty laughs in the process. In an award show traditionally known for song-and-dance routines and high doses of glamour, Rock gave the 88th Academy Awards a charged atmosphere, keeping with the outcry that followed a second straight year of all-white acting nominees.

"Is Hollywood racist? You're damn right it's racist," said Rock. "Hollywood is sorority racist. It's like: We like you Rhonda, but you're not a Kappa."

Streaks, broken and extended, dominated much of the evening. After going home empty-handed four times previously, Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar, for a best actor in "The Revenant" - a gruff, grunting performance that traded little on the actor's youthful charisma. DiCaprio, greeted with a standing ovation, took the moment to talk about climate change.

"Let us not take our planet for granted," he said. "I do not take tonight for granted."

His director, Alejandro Inarritu won back-to-back directing awards after the triumph last year of "Birdman." It's a feat matched by only two other filmmakers: John Ford and Joseph L. Mankiewicz. "The Revenant" also won best cinematography for Emmanuel Lubezki, who became the first cinematographer to win three times in a row (following wins for "Gravity" and "Birdman"), and only the seventh to three-peat in Oscar history.

Inarritu, whose win meant three straight years of Mexican filmmakers winning best director, was one of the few winners to remark passionately on diversity in his acceptance speech.

"What a great opportunity for our generation to really liberate ourselves from all prejudice and this tribal thinking and to make sure for once and forever that the color of our skin becomes as irrelevant as the length of our hair," said Inarritu.

The night's most-awarded film, however, went to neither "Spotlight" nor "The Revenant." George Miller's post-apocalyptic chase film, "Mad Max: Fury Road" sped away with six awards in technical categories for editing, makeup, production design, sound editing, sound mixing and costume design. Roundly acclaimed for its old-school craft, Miller's "Mad Max" was assured of becoming the evening's most awarded film.